Britannia shapers, even the smaller models, were industrial-class machines and fitted with many features designed to enhance both their speed of working and versatility. The 1.25 ton, 12-inch stroke No. 33 machine, illustrated above, had a 16 inch by 14.5" table with 6 closely-spaced T slots machined in the top (and a T-slotted right-hand vertical surface) that could be traversed a total distance of 24 inches from side to side under either hand or power feed.
The ram was fitted with a rack on its underside and driven directly from a large-diameter gear beneath. The toolholder not only swivelled on the end of the ram - as was normal - but was also fitted with an ingeniously-designed power feed, operated through a ratchet mechanism tripped by a rod fastened to the side of the ram; the details are just visible in the picture below.
In addition the toolbox was fitted with worm-and-quadrant gearing that allowed it to be independently tilted and so aid, so the makers claimed, the process of shaping "internal curves". The worm could be released from the wheel, and quickly reset to its original position.
In order to support longer jobs, which may have hung off the table, a bracketed roller support was provided that could be placed at either side of the table.
Although heavily built - it weighed just under half a ton, the machine was not as rigid as it might have been; the two supporting legs were separate castings, and not joined at floor level - if they had been, and extended forwards, the table could have been given a (sliding) support under its front edge to resist the bending action of the ram when it was being used to the limit of its longest stroke.

Britannia No. 33 shaper with Worm-and-quadrant gearing on the toolbox - and a rod and ratchet activated power feed to the tool slide.

A much smaller shaper, with a 6-inch stroke, the Britannia No. 31 could be bench mounted or fitted to this cast-iron column with shelves and a cupboard for tool and accessories storage.
The 9-inch by 9-inch by 8-inch table had a movement of 25.5 inches across the bed - controlled by either hand or power feed - and 7.5 inches vertically with hand feed only. A self-acting circular motion was available as an extra.
The driving pulley was a 3-step cone type (for flat-belt drive) and was fitted as standard with a handle so that the machine could also be used under hand feed - a useful feature for jobs requiring a particular sensitivity of touch.

The 14.5 cwt. Britannia No. 29  9-inch stroke shaper carried its ram and driving mechanism on a sliding carriage which ran across the top face of the machine's body - design also used in Perfecto bench shapers between 1950 and 1970. The shaper could be ordered with an extra wide bedway, at £1 : 15s per foot - and even fitted with an additional tables at an additional cost of £6.